Hendersons Come Home For Big Announcement

Brittany Henderson (left) and Brooke Henderson (right) (Photo: Flagstick.com)Brittany Henderson (left) and Brooke Henderson (right) are thrilled that their Pro-Am at Smiths Fall G&CC will be followed by a Canadian Women’s Tour event. (Photo: Flagstick.com)

The previously announced “Magenta Mortgage Pro-Am presented by Mike Fair Chevrolet Buick GMC Cadillac Ltd. in support of the Team Henderson 110% Club” set for June 15th at the Smiths Falls Golf & Country Club will be followed by a Canadian Women’s Tour event at the club. The event, the 2nd of three on the Golf Canada schedule, will be played on June 16 and 17, 2015.

The fateful part of this circumstance is that the Pro-Am was searching for top pros to play with the now sold out field of amateur teams, while Golf Canada was in search of a host course for their tournament.

Given that both Henderson girls were involved with the Golf Canada national team program (Brooke is currently a member of the Golf Canada Young Pro squad), the fit was a perfect one.

It was announced Thursday that the charities that will benefit from the Pro-Am side of the event will be the Lanark County Support Services and the DoefStrong, which supports injured hockey player Neil Doef as he recovers and deals with the effects of a serious spinal injury.

Being able to finally share the news publicly made for an exciting day for the Hendersons who flew in from their home base in Florida for the press conference and a little Easter break with their family. The ladies most recently shared second place at a Symetra Tour event. Brittany is a member of that tour and Brooke was playing on a sponsor’s exemption.

“It will be great to have a tournament here in our hometown, at our home course, with all our friends and family here to support it,” Brooke, 17, shared with Flagstick.com. “It will be nice to show them some of the quality of these girls and how well they can play. It’s just exciting that both my sister and I can play and have our pro-am before, and give back to our community who has done so much for us.”

Brittany, 24, echoed her little sister’s remarks on the joy of having a Canadian Women’s Tour event at their home club.

“You play the the Canadian Women’s Tour and they always seem to be far away – in Toronto area, or Vancouver or Calgary , and it’s definitely surreal to have it coming to Smiths Falls but it’s going to be awesome,” remarked the player who currently holds the 5th place position on the Symetra Tour money list.

As for the pro-am Brittany was also pleased with how they will be able to help out two causes close to their family. “Brooke is very good friends with Neil Doef. All the support we can give him is going to help him with his recovery and his journey that’s ahead. My mom has worked with Lanark Country Support Services for a long time – 35 years. They do a lot for people here and anything we can do to support that with the pro-am is great.”

The Canadian Women’s Tour attracts professionals and elite amateur players from around the world. The top players on the tour for the year earn access to the CP Canadian Women’s Open.

Among the players expected to make it to Smiths Falls for at least the pro-am will be LPGA Tour member Alena Sharp and popular Big Break participant Tessa Teachman.

Event organizers will now begin the long process of finding volunteers and billets to support the tournament. Given how much the community has rallied around the Henderson sisters, and most recently, Neil Doef, we’re guessing it won’t be a problem.

Smiths Falls and eastern Ontario residents have proven how much they love golf and the arrival of the Canadian Women’s Tour will be just another chance for them to prove that.

–

We’ll have more insight on the play of the Henderson girls from our interviews with them in a story early next week.